Searching for the Memory Holy Grail - Part 2

Final Words

All of the modules that we tested performed very well at DDR500. If you plan to only run your new DDR500 at rated speed, then any of the memory we tested will meet your needs: Adata PC4000, Corsair XMS4000, Geil Platinum 4000, Kingston HyperX 4000, OCZ 4000, and OCZ 3700 Gold. Keep in mind that your CPU must be capable of running at a raw 250FSB or 1000FSB to run your memory at DDR500. The higher-speed Pentium 4 CPUs — the 2.8C, 3.0C, or 3.2C — cannot usually reach this bus speed and you will likely be running your memory at less than DDR500 speed. Many 2.4C and 2.6C CPUs that we have tested can run at DDR500. The new DDR500 memory is an excellent match for these processors.

Among the DDR500 group, the very different behavior of 2 Single-Bank Kingston HyperX 4000 compared to 4 Single-Bank would recommend that you buy four single-sided modules for best performance and overclocking if you choose single-bank modules for DDR500.

At DDR500 and DDR400, the fastest memory performance was found with OCZ 3700 Gold, because the memory supports faster timings than other memory tested here. The OCZ 3700 Gold ran at very fast 2-2-3-6 timings at DDR400, but still overclocked to DDR528 at 2.5-3-4-7 timings at 2.85V. For faster P4s, the OCZ is an excellent choice that will give you the headroom for the best overclock possible with your CPU, while still providing faster timings for the DDR400 range. Kingston and Adata also performed well with fast timings at DDR400, and would also be good choices for a higher-speed Pentium 4. The Adata PC4000 is selling at very low prices compared to the premium brands that we tested here; and while it is not the best overclocker, it certainly does perform to DDR500 and beyond. Adata is, however, difficult to find in the US.

The modules using Hynix memory were the best performers at the very highest speeds. Corsair, OCZ and Geil were all at the top of the performance charts from DDR500 to the highest overclock that they could achieve. But the top two here — OCZ 4000 and Geil Platinum 4000 — reached significantly higher overclocks than Corsair and turned in the highest performance numbers in our round-up.

You will find variation in performance of memory modules, and thus, we cannot guarantee that your memory purchase will achieve the same performance levels as stated in this review. However, we are truly astounded by the ability of OCZ 4000 Copper to perform at DDR 552, the fastest memory that we have tested thus far. If your CPU can handle a raw 275 bus speed (and a few can), then OCZ 4000 will provide synchronous memory performance at levels that we could only imagine a short time ago.